Valiant Crimes
by NauticalMile
Summary: The Inglourious Basterds are sent on a special mission: to rescue Agent Nine, but who was Agent Nine?
1. Chapter 1

"Alright boys we have ourselves a very important mission, we have to rescue Agent Nine from prison," the man says talking to his soldiers that sat on makeshift beds in the middle of the forest.  
"Why's it so important that we rescue Agent Nine?" the young short wide eyed soldier inquires.  
"Cuz the Nazis are planning to make an example of them like they were gonna do for Hugo ova there, but it'll be worse cuz they nearly killed Hitler," he responds. The whole group awed in amazement that someone could get close enough to even meet Hitler let alone nearly kill him.  
"Hell if I were that close I would've made sure he was dead," another more rotund soldier with curly hair states holding a machine gun close to his body.  
"We all would've, now moving on, about 20 miles from here is the prison holding Agent Nine in a highly guarded cell, we just got to get in there and kill some Nazis then get Agent Nine," the leader of the men continues looking at the motley crew of men. The men were excited to get some action as well as meet the man who botched his chance to kill Hitler. They began trekking through the dense forest not knowing what they had in store for them.

The cell was small and dingy, all stone walls moist smelling like mildew and rot. There were no windows only a steel door with a small barred up opening so that the Nazi guards could make sure the prisoner wasn't up to no good. It was the up most importance that the prisoner would be tortured mercilessly for what was done to their precious Fuhrer. By noon tomorrow they were going to take the prisoner to Berlin where they would make the death of this prisoner a public event.

The prisoner sat idly in the dark shadows of the small cell; it had been weeks of torture and still no sound escaped their lips that cracked with dry blood from the numerous blows to the face. When the sounds of gunfire echoed through the prison, the prisoner stood up hiding in the shadows as the door was being opened. From the German cursing it was obvious it was one of the guards and when the door opened the prisoner attacked seeing an opportunity to escape. The guard grunted in pain as the sledgehammer-like force that hit his jaw and immediately hit the ground from the sheer power behind the hit. Standing above the guard handcuffed hands still clenched together and their foot at the guard's throat as the prisoner took his gun from his hands wordlessly.

The guard was knocked out cold and when he began to stir he was shot by the prisoner seeing as that he was not useful seeing that he did not have the key to the handcuffs that bond the prisoner.

Gun in hand still the prisoner walked cautiously with their back up against the wall with much pain emanating from the whippings received the previous night as they made their way through the dimly lit area, hiding discretely on the other side of the wall. There were voices coming towards the cell, not just any kind of voices but Americans.

"Where in the hell are they? Lieutenant said the prisoner should be here in this cell," a small man with wide blue eyes says looking flustered.  
"Well it looks like he escaped by the looks of the dead Nazi here," the other more bulky one wearing a beret states looking around. No longer caring the prisoner walked off in search of the keys to unlock the handcuffs that cut into their skin. Upon getting to the main room the prisoner saw the Nazis all lying dead in pools of their own blood as other men were removing their scalps.

One man stood tall with a mustache and a long scar ringing his neck observing the whole scene; he was the leader of these men. His eyes fell on the person in handcuffs whom walked fearlessly through the bodies towards a room. Their footsteps gracefully and unwavering, eyes a shade of golden honey popping out behind the mess of dark chestnut brown hair that hung in their face. Agent Nine was a woman.


	2. Chapter 2

"Lieutenant Raine, Agent Nine wasn't in the cell, there was just a dead Nazi with his head blown off next to it," the wide eyed man says entering the room from the other side.  
"That's fine we got her, Utivich," the Lieutenant Raine responds walking to the room the woman just entered. He saw her trying different sets of keys to unlock the handcuffs.  
"Need help with that?" he inquires approaching her. She didn't say anything just kept on struggling to unlock the handcuffs.  
"My name is Lieutenant Aldo Raine, we are here on orders to rescue you, you're Agent Nine correct?" he says.

She looked up at the man with a look of boredom, as to say he was an idiot for asking. Aldo had heard from his superiors that Agent Nine wasn't much of a talker and that's what made her a good soldier, because she only spoke when absolutely necessary or when her commanding officers ordered her to do so. The woman remained silent as she found the correct key that unlocked her bond wrists and took the handcuffs off rubbing her wrists gently upon the new freedom. She wondered why Aldo Raine was still standing there looking at her seeing that she was free now and didn't need any further assistance. 

"Here's the message Commander Johnson wanted you to have," Aldo says upon seeing she would not respond and handed her a letter.

She took it impatiently from his hands and opened it, scanning the words that were displayed on the piece of paper with the familiar handwriting on it. Aldo watched as her upper lip upwards into a snarl of annoyance. The letter entailed that she would have to follow Aldo's orders and become part of his team so that they could have some insight how his operation ran. It was her punishment for failing to follow orders.

She placed the letter in a nearby metal wastebasket and threw a lantern into it, igniting all the papers to catch fire. As the papers burned she turned her attention to get her weapons back and began searching through boxes in hopes of finding them. Opening the correct box revealed her knife in its sheath and two expensive looking matching customized handguns with the initials on the handle. She put on her holster carefully not to irritate the skin that was ripped to bits underneath the blood stained shirt that was once white but now was a dark maroon from the amount of blood spilled on it.

Pulling out a pair of boots that were much too big for her feet from the area, she put on two pairs of socks in hopes to make the shoe fit better. It was a bit pointless but she laced the boots up feeling the scabs on her back cracking open. Ready as she'd ever be, she stood with a stoic expression waiting for Aldo's orders.  
"Well suppose that means you're ready to go, come on," Aldo says unsure how to act around this new addition to his crew. Had he known it was a woman they were adding he probably would have argued with the high command. The rest of the Basterds were confused yet entranced that Agent Nine was a woman.  
"Alright fellas this here is Agent Nine, high command wants her to tag along with us for a little while," Aldo announces gesturing to the woman next to him who just stood there with a bored expression.

The men were shocked, a woman did not belong with the Basterds, they were called Basterds for a reason, they did unspeakable things to Nazis and well they were sure a woman wouldn't do those things right along with them.  
"We are heading out now come on," Aldo orders sniffing up some of his snuff from a small canister. Agent Nine strode towards the exit sick of the gawking and looks of disbelief, Aldo followed closely behind as the men took a hint to leave as well.

They walked for miles in silence, until Agent Nine stopped in her tracks upon hearing something she broke into a sprint towards the west. None of the Basterds knew what she was doing, but they tried to keep with her then they saw what she was after. It was a Nazi soldier on the run, what most would call a scout. They all watched in awe as she pounce on the man like a tiger getting their pray. Disarming him swiftly and turning his own guns against him she kept one foot on his throat hitting him with the butt of the rifle in the face. The man groaned in pain as he cursed in German.

"Good work lets see if we can get some information as to where this one was headed," Aldo says gesturing for Agent Nine to ease her pressure on the man's throat. She looked up at Aldo even making him uneasy with the intensity in her golden eyes as she hit the man again with the rifle before walking off. The Nazi soldier on the ground moaned holding his bleeding face with his hands. As Aldo interrogated the soldier for information Agent Nine stood with a stoic expression taking in the whole scene around them to be sure there were no more Nazis around.

Aldo wasn't getting anywhere with the man and Agent Nine sensed this was pointless so she pointed the rifle at the soldier's nose. Being that she was to the left of him about twenty yards away with no obstructions she took this opportunity to shoot his nose off his face. The man's screams erupted throughout the forest as the blood streamed from his face. He began talking then, his eyes filled with fear looking at the woman who had just shot his own nose off. The men held him down and Aldo began carving the swastika on his forehead. Agent Nine remained silent yet secretly displeased they let the man alive.

All the Basterds were getting increasingly uneasy with the woman's quiet demeanor and wanted to know how she became such an excellent marksman or rather markswoman. Donny was the first to talk of course, it was obvious that he was impressed and he walked alongside of her hoping to be the one to get her to talk.

"Where'd ya learn how to shoot like that?" Donny inquires in his Boston accent.

Agent Nine merely ignored his question and kept walking ahead of him. She wasn't in the mood for talking, she never was. It was best to keep quiet and wait for this punishment to be over. The group kept walking for hours at end until they stopped at an abandoned cabin. Aldo saw that the woman kept her distance and was always on guard being that she would keep an eye on all the possible exits. He was given specific instructions about her although at the time he wasn't aware it was a woman, he was told she was stubborn, mean, tough and reclusive. There were some murmurs he heard about her marksmanship but he thought that they were just rumors.

"Come with me," Aldo orders looking at Agent Nine as he started heading towards the one bedroom of the cabin. She made no expression just followed her superior to the bedroom. Once inside Aldo shut the door and looked at the woman standing before him waiting for what his point was for bringing her in there. 

"Sit," he says gesturing to the slightly dusty bed. Obeying her orders she sat down, her posture straight to avoid anymore splitting of her fresh back wounds.

"Although it was a damn good thing ya caught him, but I can't very well have ya goin' off like ya did without tellin' me what ya were doin', yer under my command now," Aldo states sternly. Clenching her jaw avoiding the temptation to say anything, she nodded as to say she understood.  
"Ya don' have to talk to no one if ya don' wanna but ya better give me some sort of warning when ya go off like ya had," he continues assessing her reaction to his orders.

She nodded again feeling the tickle of warm thick liquid running down her spine. Inside she was hoping Aldo would make this real quick before he could notice the blood. Both parties clenched their jaws as if there was some foul stench in the room, but there was nothing of this sort, this gesture was their way of showing stubbornness and strength. 

"Right well ya can get up and go now," Aldo says seeing that he wasn't going to get much of a reaction from her. She stood up and Aldo noticed the bedspread had blood a fresh coat of blood on it where she had been.  
"On second thought stay in here, yer bleedin', were ya shot?" he inquires placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her in her tracks. Involuntarily flinching because his hand rested on a wound, she shrugged his hand off that was now light glazed with her blood.

"Right well ya sit down I'll have Wicki clean ya up, I'll find ya a new shirt," Aldo states as he opened the door yelling for Wicki to come in there with the medical supplies and a new shirt. Wicki came in with a bag and looked at Aldo for further orders.

"Show us yer back, so we can clean ya up," Aldo says looking at the woman.

Turning her back to them she slowly unbuttoned the front of the oversized shirt letting it slip down her shoulders but made sure to hold up the fabric to the front so her chest was not exposed. Neither were prepared for the sight before them, there were slashes all over her back some crusted over dry, others still seeping out blood, the gashes were worse than the ones they had seen on Hugo Stiglitz when they had first gotten him out of prison. It looked as though someone was whipping her with razors at the ends of the whip. Wicki looked at Aldo with the same shocked expression.

"I'm a get ya that shirt and a lot of whiskey," Aldo says walking out of the room.  
"Perhaps you'd be more comfortable lying on your stomach for this," Wicki suggests sitting down on the bed taking out the medical supplies.

She didn't respond just remained sitting giving Wicki the answer to his suggestion. He started to clean the wounds carefully with peroxide and a cloth. The wounds sizzled reacting to the peroxide.

"I'm Wilhelm Wicki by the way," he says in his deep voice as he cleaned her wounds.  
"Here got ya some whiskey," Aldo states coming into the room with a flask and handed it to Agent Nine. She took it gladly, drinking most of its contents within the minute.  
"What's your name?" he asks. She didn't answer; she didn't have to answer him, he didn't order her to answer him so she kept her mouth shut.  
"God damn it do I really have to order ya to tell me yer name?" Aldo questions sounding a little incredulous of how ridiculous of a person this woman was being. Inside she was laughing and fighting the urge to let a smile slip on her expressionless face.  
"Alright fine, I order you to tell me your name," he states with his hands on his hips.  
"Rosaline Thrasher," she responds in a raspy voice. It had been a long time since she had spoken a word to anyone.  
"Well I'll call ya by either Thrasher or Ross, is that fine with ya?" Aldo inquires. Ross shrugged uncaringly and Wilhelm Wicki continued to clean the wounds.  
"Are there any other wounds ya need cleanin' up," Aldo asks next seeing that Wilhelm was nearly finished. Ross shook her head to answer no, and they began bandaging her up. Aldo and Wilhelm noticed the bruises that scattered up and down her arms along with her neck. It angered them how badly the Nazis tortured her yet it astonished them that not once she make a noise when they cleaned her up, they knew it was likely that she didn't make a noise as these wounds were inflicted upon her as well. Aldo handed Ross a black tee shirt to wear and she took it without saying a word as the men exited the room to give her some privacy. She took off the bloodied shirt and slipped the fresh one carefully over her head.

There was a dusty vanity set with a mirror in the middle of it and Ross walked over rubbing the dirt off it to see her reflection. It was strange to see how bedraggled she looked and Ross tried her best to wipe the blood off her face along with pull back her crazed hair to look a little more proper. She had a small cut and bruise on her right cheekbone wear she had been punched by one of the Nazis at the prison. After cleaning the dry blood from her face she took her things and headed out of the room.

The Basterds all stopped talking to look at Ross. Their eyes took in her more put together appearance and saw all the cuts and bruises that scattered along her exposed arms. Now without the blood on her face and wild chestnut brown hair pulled back they could see her facial features better. She looked incredibly feminine in the face with naturally full red lips that were in the shape of Cupid's bow and a sprinkle of light freckles over her nose with long eyelashes that were jet black. Ross was a natural beauty yet they all knew she was dangerous as they come. She ignored their stares and sat herself in a wooden chair with her back to everyone.

"Here, ya must be hungry, I doubt they fed ya while ya were in there," Aldo says getting up and handing Ross a sandwich. Ross took the sandwich her stomach rumbling a little at the sight of food. Aldo went back to his spot and Ross ate the sandwich savoring the food as if she would never have anything ever again. The men continued their conversations but every once in a while would look to Ross whom just stared out the window with her arms crossed in front of her body. This was going to be quite the lesson to learn for not following direct orders.


	3. Chapter 3

A couple weeks passed and still Ross didn't speak unless Aldo ordered her too which generally didn't happen much because Aldo felt uncomfortable having to ask her to speak. To the Basterds the novelty of her mystery had worn off and now just plain irritated them that she didn't acknowledge or initiate conversations with any of them. Donny was annoyed the most and thought Ross to be a stuck-up and untrustworthy. He was determined to push her buttons. They all sat around the camp fire and Ross sat furthest from the group perched on a large boulder.

"What are ya too good to sit with us?" Donny demands getting up from his seat by the fire. Ross didn't give a response merely kept scanning the dark forest for any suspicious movement.  
"I'm talking to you Princess," he continues standing right in her view. Ross gave him a bored look. 

"Figures a woman would fuck up killing Hitler," Donny spats.  
"I suggest you go sit back down Donowitz before you get yourself hurt," Ross says keeping her cool.  
"Make me Thrasher," he retorts puffing his chest out. 

"Have it your way," she replies swiftly grasping his arm and kicking in the back of his leg then twisted his arm behind him slamming his face into the ground with her foot on his back. Ross pushed his arm forward causing Donny a good amount of pain. 

"Thrasher cut it out," Aldo orders and Ross let Donny go so he could stand up again. Donny growled in anger looking like he could kill at any given moment. Ross showed no emotion and sat back down ignoring the many stares on her whilst she began cleaning her guns. Hirschberg stared at her, racking his mind as to why she looked so damn familiar to him. Then it clicked in his brain when his eyes grazed Ross's customized handguns. 

"Holy shit, Ross the Boss Thrasher," Hirschberg says out loud gawking at Ross. Ross looked up at Hirschberg upon hearing the nickname given to her from back in America.  
"What are ya goin' on about Hirschberg?" Aldo questions looking Hirschberg. 

"She's a powerful mafia boss well she was anyways," he responds gesturing to Ross with wide eyes. Ross shook her head at Hirschberg a soft chuckle escaping her lips, obviously somewhat amused.  
"Is that true?" Utivich inquires looking at Ross somewhat shocked. She merely shrugged her shoulders and went back to cleaning her guns. 

"I can't fucking believe I didn't get it until now, how in the hell did you get into the service when you were public enemy number nine, hell you're loaded I'd be sipping on margaritas south of the border if I were you," Hirschberg rants.

No one could believe what Hirschberg just said, Ross kept quiet not really caring from the looks of things and she continued cleaning the nice set of handguns. Aldo looked at her with a newfound curiosity, and wondered just how she got into the service. Donny was still huffing and puffing over her pinning him down so all he wanted to do was get back at her. It was Ross and Hugo's turn to keep watch for the night while the other men slept. Hugo was curious about this woman as well, they were alike in many ways that they were quiet outsiders of the group once captured and tortured to excruciating points of insanity.

When all the men had fallen asleep, Hugo got up and sat next to Ross. He didn't talk just merely offered Ross a cigarette. She took the cigarette and placed it between fingers casually then put it to her lips, Hugo lit a match lighting the cigarette for her; their eyes meeting for moments as Ross sucked in the toxins. Ross didn't seem to mind Hugo's presence as they spent their time smoking their cigarettes in silence. 

"You speak German?" Hugo inquires breaking the silence. Ross simply nodded curtly before taking a deep inhalation of the cigarette and blowing it out. It was interesting to hear Hugo speak, Ross had noticed he was about as quiet as she with the exception of when he spoke his native tongue with Wilhelm Wicki. Hugo was a little embarrassed that all this time Ross could understand with words exchanged between him and Wilhelm which sometimes included Ross as a topic. She honestly didn't care though she was used to the men gossiping about her so it wasn't like it was something new to her.

While remaining quiet for so long it wasn't hard for Ross to figure how most of the group ticked, she observed everything surveying them in case there were any problems. The rest of the watch went by uneventfully and once the sun began to raise so did Aldo. Ross watched as Aldo stretched, strangely she felt drawn to him like she was slightly drawn to a few of the other men like Hugo and Wilhelm except the draw occurred more with Aldo for some odd reason. It was probably the fact he wasn't a Jew yet he led a group of Jews to kills dozens upon dozens of Nazis.

He'd be an attractive man had he not hold his face in such a bizarre manner. Ross thought it was a bit funny that these men groomed themselves more than her. Their hair always fixed and faces shaved Ross told herself she was with a bunch of pretty boys as an internal joke with herself.

Aldo noticed the hint of a smile on Ross's face upon seeing her look at him as if he were some sort of a zoo animal. He didn't know whether his fly was down or the woman was just blanking out from the hours without sleep either way he kind of liked seeing a form of emotion on her delicate features. One by one the rest of the men woke and they began eating whatever Utivich had made. Packing camp up, they headed out. They hadn't had any real action since the night they rescued Ross from prison and the Basterds were growing restless with the lack of killing.

Aldo stopped the group to consult the map. Ross caught sight of something strange about three hundred yards up head in full on camouflage; it was a Nazi sniper and his aim was right at Aldo. Everything felt like it was in slow motion as Ross tackled Aldo down to the ground before the bullet pierced his skull. Wilhelm took this chance to shoot the sniper up ahead being that he was the trained marksman of the group. Aldo and Ross quickly got onto their feet ready to fight not having time to take in what had just occurred. Now the Nazis had gathered and were shooting at them all as they pressed their bodies against the trees. There were more of them than there were of the Basterds it was obvious.

"Aldo I'm going to go over there and pluck them off until they figure out where I am, then they are going to single me out that's when you lot take them down while they are distracted alright?" Ross says to Aldo. Aldo stared at her not knowing whether or not he should agree to letting her go out into the open like she was suggesting. Finally he nodded as conformation and Ross dashed off breaking into a sprint. She kept low hiding her small frame behind some bushes. Soon she got to her spot and got down on her stomach with a rifle poking through the shrubs pointing at the group of soldiers.

Ross began plucking off the soldiers quickly and efficiently killing over half the group without them knowing where the bullets were coming from. As expected the Nazis caught on and Ross got up swiftly to hide behind a large tree trunk as they began singling her out shooting round after round at her whilst she gestured for the Basterds to attack. Aldo was impressed that she called them on what they were going to do and the Basterds took down the rest of the soldiers. As the group cautiously approached the area, there was one last soldier left saying if they didn't let him go he'd kill the American prisoner.

Being that they could not get a look at the soldier or the prisoner they had to trust that he actually had a prisoner to kill, let alone an American one. Aldo began negotiating telling the soldier to let the prisoner talk. When Ross heard the familiar voice speak she didn't hesitate to shoot the Nazi right between the eyes. The Nazis fell to the ground the back of his skulls spread on the tree nearby. Ross ran to the area where a lanky dark haired young man with a scruffy beard and clear blue eyes stood up with his hands tied behind his back. She took out her knife quickly cutting the ropes and the man threw his arms around Ross in a tight embrace.


	4. Chapter 4

"Thank god you are alright Ross," the man says pulling away looking down at Ross who looked like she was going to give him a good beating.  
"God damn it, my instructions were simple Jonathan, simple!" Ross scolds narrowing her eyes at the man. The man's face fell crestfallen with her response to his presence.

"I can't just wait in London hoping for you to come back safely, it isn't right Ross, you're my sister I refuse to let you do this shit anymore, you're the only family I got left," he retorts.  
"I know what I signed up for, Johnny, and I'm damn angry that those fucking idiots at the base were not watching you like I instructed them to," she states angrily.  
"I'm not a child," Johnny responds.

"No you're my little brother, my idiot of a brother who still doesn't know what's good for him, that got himself captured by a bunch of fucking Nazis when I told him to stay in school to make something of his life and made him move to London so he'd have a fucking chance to do so but no you are fucking here," Ross rants obviously very furious as her language changed to Spanish whilst she paced back and forth. Johnny stared down at his sister whom was cursing up a storm in Spanish.

He knew the best thing to do was let her go on in Spanish rather than get violent. Johnny looked at the group of men that seemed incredibly confused as to what was going on. Ross was in her own little world of cursing and pacing like a madwoman. 

"I'm Jonathan Thrasher, Ross's younger brother," Johnny says introducing himself to Aldo. They were about to shake hands but Ross stopped her pacing to swat Johnny's hand away from Aldo's.  
"No, you do not introduce yourself or anything, you are going back to London to finish your education," Ross states.  
"I finished last spring, but you wouldn't know that because you have no sense of time when those assholes have you out here, its bullshit that they are using your record as leverage to get you to fight their fucking battles," Johnny retorts growing angry himself.  
"Next town we get to you are going to go back to London," she says looking at him.  
"You-" he starts to say but Ross cut him off.

"End of discussion," Ross retorts sternly. The Basterds didn't know what to do; this was the first time they heard Ross speak that much since her joining their ranks.  
"We ain't takin' him anywhere, he's goin' on his own," Donny states snidely.  
"I'm sorry are you in charge here?" Johnny inquires with a slight hint of arrogance to his tone of voice.

Ross shot her brother a look as to say to shut his mouth then looked at Aldo with an almost pleading expression. Aldo couldn't refuse this woman's requests when she looked at him with those golden eyes especially after she had saved his life.

"We'll drop 'em off at the next town," Aldo finally says. Donny gawked at his Lieutenant and gave an incredulous look not believing Aldo would allow this. Ross was beyond grateful and the rest of the crew went off scalping their kills. Johnny was taken back by what the other men were doing and he looked to his sister for an explanation who just shrugged her shoulders in an uncaring manner. He watched as Ross began doing the same without much reaction, Johnny knew Ross was unfazed by a lot of things, she was strong like their father and did what she had to do in order to get things done right. But this seemed a little unnecessary and it upset Johnny his sister now had to do such things.

His sister was changing with the war and he saw her eyes didn't gleam as brightly as they used to. Then again they lost a lot of their gleam after their father's death. The group trekked through the forest wordlessly with the exception of some of the Basterds that made small talk with one another. Ross was in a foul mood and hardly anyone spoke to her, even Johnny sensed how angry she was.

"Ross?" Johnny says as the group began setting up camp. Ross merely gave a simple 'hmm' in response not in a mood to talk a whole lot because she was very angry with her little brother.  
"Why are you doing this?" he asks. She didn't answer just began sharpening her knife sitting on a log.  
"I talked to Commander Johnson, he said they offered your release in exchange for five years of service, he said you declined and went for another offer, what was the other offer Ross?" Johnny says staring at his sister.

"Why must you ask so many questions Johnny?" Ross responds.  
"Because I want to know why you'd go over here risking your life for those assholes knowing that once you are done you got to go back to prison," he retorts looking at her intently.  
"To make sure that you weren't drafted when you came of age and to release Mickey, Norman, Jimmy and the rest of guys from prison, I took responsibility for it all," she says letting out a tired sigh.

"Why would you do that?" Johnny responds looking at her as if she were insane.  
"It's what you do for people that have been loyal to you," Ross states going back to sharpening the blade of her knife.  
"That's insane Ross, what about you? Why don't you just book it so you don't have to rot in prison," he asks.  
"I don't runaway from my commitments, I fully intend to fulfill my contract, if I run they'll pull out and everyone loses for my own selfish act, and that doesn't settle well with me," she says giving Johnny a look that said she would never change her mind.  
"Ross-" Johnny starts but was cut off.  
"I'd appreciate it if you'd stop acting like an ungrateful little brat about this Jonathan, its pissing me off that you'd come out here like you had when I've gone through so much shit to keep you out of trouble," Ross retorts seriously.

"Sorry," he says quietly. He suddenly felt guilty and foolish for coming to find her, knowing Ross she felt like she failed to protect him now.

Aldo couldn't help but hear the exchange along with Wilhelm and Hugo, they were astounded by the sacrifices Ross was making. None of them could have imagined her being that way considering she acted so coldly most of the time. The night passed and Ross kept watch as Johnny fell asleep. She didn't want to fall asleep, a part of her worried something would happen to him if she wasn't the one to watch him. Ross noticed Johnny held something in his right hand. Quietly Ross scooted over to her brother slipping the small booklet that looked to be the size of a passport out of his hand.

Johnny mumbled in his sleep and Ross moved back to her spot opening the little leather bond slip to reveal a few photographs. One of which was of a pretty blonde girl with fair skin, she was quite lovely looking. On the back of the photo there was some pretty cursive writing professing an undying love for my brother telling him to be careful. Wilhelm and Hirschberg were on watch duty this night and they both noticed Ross was still awake.

"You're gonna burn out if you don't get any sleep," Wilhelm says sitting next to Ross on the large log. Ross turned her head slightly to Wilhelm.  
"I'll manage," Ross replies softly.  
"Anything interesting?" he asks gesturing to the leaflet Ross had taken from her brother.  
"Johnny boy's got a pretty girlfriend back in London apparently," she says showing Wilhelm the picture of the pretty girl.

"That's good for him, you don't think he came for advice do you?" Wilhelm responds jokingly. Ross let out a chuckle thinking she would be the worst person to give advice on relationships. She moved the front photo to the back to reveal a new one; it was of what their family once was.

A picture of Johnny, Ross, and their father Dan Thrasher, they were all dressed up to celebrate Dan's birthday. It was the last birthday for their father before he was killed. Anger bubbled up inside Ross as Wilhelm watched as her smile fell and closed the small booklet. He had seen the photo briefly, the three looked happy, Ross looked stunningly angelic in a flowing glittery dress, and she was breath taking. A scowl was playing on Ross's delicate features and it was obvious something had upset her greatly. Wilhelm took this as a sign to leave her alone because by the look in her eyes if someone bothered her at the moment she'd stab them.

That night only maybe for an hour or two Ross fell asleep. She woke as soon as the first ray of sun peeked through the dark forest. Johnny woke to see his sister already awake but hardly alive. Her eyes were even dimmer than the night before glazed over and he knew something was killing her inside. The group headed towards the next town that wasn't too far away. After Wilhelm and a few of the others went to scout the area, Johnny couldn't stand how quiet his sister was, how she looked as she did when their father died.

"Ross, I'm sorry for coming out here like I had," Johnny apologizes hoping that was the problem but deep down he knew it wasn't.  
"Don't worry about it Johnny Boy, pretty soon you'll be back in London with that pretty girl you got yourself," Ross answers with a weak smile.  
"You know about Grace?" he responds looking a bit surprised.  
"You did good kid, she's absolutely beautiful," she says.

"I'm going to ask her to marry me and take her to America," Johnny states.  
"Sounds like a plan Johnny Boy, she looks like a good girl, hopefully you'll have better luck with the whole marriage thing than I had," Ross replies offhandedly.  
"You were married? What happened to the poor guy? He kill himself?" Donny questions making no attempts at stifling his laughter while doing so. Ross clenched her jaw as her fists balled up until her knuckles were white.

"Why don't you shut your mouth huh?" Johnny snaps at Donny.  
"No this is too good to hear, what'd ya get a divorce or something?" he continues looking at Ross.  
"It's none of your business, so why don't you shut your trap?" Johnny snarls narrowing his eyes at Donny. Johnny didn't like Donny one bit, especially when he talked to his sister like he had; to him Donny had no right to know anything.

"Oh so it was a divorce," Donny grins. Donny enjoyed seeing Ross uneasy because that is exactly how he made him feel, uneasy.  
"Yeah, one that included my gun blasting a hole through his fucking skull," Ross growls as she attempted to make her breathing grow steady.  
"You killed your own husband?" Donny retorts a little shocked.  
"He deserved what he had coming to him, after what he did to our family," Johnny retorts. Aldo stared at Ross, assessing her reaction to it all. Her eyes glistened as if reliving some sort of horrible event.

"Donny why don' ya go see what's takin' the boys so long," Aldo says to Donny. Donny merely stared at Ross for a few moments before he walked off. Aldo didn't want Donny to push Ross to the brink because it was obvious this was definitely a sore subject for her.

"Don't blame yourself for it Ross none of us saw it coming," Johnny says quietly as he hugged his sister. Ross found herself hugging her brother back, feeling sad that she would have to let him go. It was hard for her to live with herself, she thought she should have seen what her husband was after, that he was no good and she blamed herself for not being able to save her father.

Soon Johnny and Ross said their goodbyes. Ross tried to remain composed and Johnny made several attempts in coaxing her to come with him but neither succeeded so they parted their ways with one last hug.


	5. Chapter 5

The Basterds left the town and headed towards the next place. Ross went back to being silent again much to everyone else's dismay. As the days passed Ross wondered how long she was going to have to be with Aldo and the Basterds. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy being with them or anything; it was just that she didn't know how long she'd be able to hold off her stony exterior. Ross didn't want to get close to anyone, in a war it was too dangerous to get close to anyone. Besides she had to stay objective considering she was supposed to report what sort of operation they were running.

When they arrived at an abandoned two story home, the group searched the area making sure it was all clear before deciding to stay for the night. Dust was collected and the place looked untouched as if it had been years since anyone had inhabited the place. Soon the group would be heading into a bigger town with an assembly of Nazis stationed there.

"Why don' ya have the Black Widow here to scout the place out?" Donny suggests using the new nickname he had come up with for Ross. Ross didn't care about having to scout out a place, or about the nickname given to her, at least she didn't show any emotion that said she cared. The men looked at her expectantly and she merely shrugged as to say she didn't mind the suggestion.

"Willie, ya mind bein' her escort?" Aldo inquires looking at Wilhelm expectantly.  
"I don't mind," he answers.  
"Well if she's going out there she can't be dressed like that," Donny says gesturing to the baggy men's clothing Ross wore.  
"Yer right, she needs a dress or somethin' maybe there's one around this here place, all yall start lookin'," Aldo says sitting on the couch. The men spread out and Ross was on her way to look for something to wear but Aldo stopped her gesturing for her to sit.

"If yer gonna be doing this ya actually may have to talk," he states.  
"That's fine," Ross answers curtly.  
"Heard something about ya speakin' German, and Spanish do ya speak French too?" Aldo inquires.  
"Yes," she states.  
"How in the hell did ya learn so many languages?" he counters looking at Ross surprised.  
"I had a strict educational regimen growing up, my mother and I conversed in Spanish while at home, my father being part French and German wanted me to learn that as well, why do you think the service wanted me to join so badly?" Ross says staring back at Aldo.

"Ya really have to go back to prison after this?" Aldo found himself asking. He wanted to know but he didn't know how she'd react.  
"I figured I wasn't going to make it back, so I don't really think about it all too much, because I know everyone back home is taken care of," she replies honestly.  
"That's mighty good of ya to do that," he admits.  
"You'd probably know best that a leader's got to make sacrifices to take care of your people, my boys back home got families to take care of and watch grow up, I don't want their babies growing up without daddies," Ross says. Aldo was stunned at how serious and sincere she was about the whole ordeal; it seemed impossible for someone to be so selfless.

"Hey Black Widow, I found ya somethin' to black wear," Donny shouts in his obnoxious Boston accent. Ross looked up seeing the short satin low cut black dress. It looked a size too small for her and Ross knew it was going to show everything she had. Donny tossed the dress at Ross and she merely let it lie on her lap not really giving it a second look. They found a pair of high heels as well as a matching hat. To be frank the outfit was a bit over the top and somewhat scandalous. Ross didn't complain she knew Donny wanted to get a rise out of her.

The night passed and Ross actually slept for a good four hours which was an incredible feat for her. Ross and Wilhelm were to leave at noon so Aldo instructed Ross to get fixed up. Doing what was told Ross washed the dirt off her body; luckily the house had a well and the water ran fairly well even if it was a bit cold. After bathing Ross combed out her hair with her fingers and smoothed it down in a side part then pinned it nicely in an elegant low bun towards the side. She made due with what items she had that were left behind by the last lady of the house adding some water to the dried up rouge that sat on the vanity table. With that rouge she applied it light to her cheekbones and pout, and then found some charcoal based liner to apply to her bottom of her eyelids.

Satisfied with her appearance Ross stepped into the dress heels. It was definitely a snug fit and she couldn't reach the zipper in the back that seemed to be stuck. Aldo stood outside the room Ross had been readying herself in and rapped his knuckles against the closed door.

"Ya decent yet?" Aldo inquires.  
"Yeah pretty much just having some technical difficulties, how good are you with zippers?" Ross responds. Aldo smirked when he opened the door to see her trying to get the zipper up with her back to him.

"Here, let me help ya with that," Aldo replies as he walked over to her. Ross let her hands fall to her sides so Aldo could zip the dress up. He was careful and took in how Ross's back looked, the scars a light pink tinge to them now, no longer gashes. Once zipped up the dress contoured Ross's hourglass shape that was similar to that of a pin up girl and Ross turned back around smoothing down the form fitting dress her gaze looking up at Aldo.

"Thanks," Ross says with a gracious smile. Aldo was completely floored at how great she looked right at the very moment. She was every man's wildest dream, and the pair found themselves losing their bearings looking into each other's eyes. Ross's heart rate sped up and she felt her cheeks grow hot from the moment.  
"Maybe ya should find something else to wear, you'll get too much attention like this," Aldo states sounding a little flustered.  
"I'll check the coat closet for something to wear over it," she replies with a light chuckle.

Ross felt a little pleased that she had someone like Aldo so flustered and she walked passed him knowing that if she stayed any longer she'd have a hard time controlling herself. When Ross walked downstairs to the check the coat closet, she forgot that all the men who were going to stare at her. Omar was the first to see Ross and his jaw hung a slack absolutely stunned with his eyes wide as saucers. Being that Omar stopped talking mid-sentence to gawk at something the rest of the men turned to see what the big deal was. Donny was shocked and turned on all at once; Ross looked real good in the dress. Ross put her hands on her hips looking at the gawking men as she shook her head.

"Aldo really needs to let you guys go to a whorehouse, I feel like you lot are going to pounce on me like a pack of wild hyenas," Ross states as she walked off to the closet and searched through the closet for a coat of some sorts. Ross found a coat but now was stuck looking from her weapons to the coat to the dress, trying to figure out where the hell she was going to put her guns. She cursed quietly in Spanish about how the dress left no room to hide anything, let alone move efficiently. Donny smirked as he watched Ross debating where to hide her weapons.

"You know I could think of one place you could hide a weapon," Donny says with a mischievous glint in his dark eyes.  
"Just because I am in a dress Donny, doesn't mean I still can't beat the hell out of you," Ross retorts pointedly without turning around.  
"On first name basis now?" he replies as his smirk turned into a large grin.  
"I find you incredibly obnoxious you know that?" she says shooting Donny a quick look of annoyance.

"You like it," he states still grinning.  
"Trust me I don't," Ross scoffs.  
"You sure about that?" Donny says huskily into Ross's ear.

"Oh Donny you caught me, do me right now I just can't take it any longer, you are too manly for me to resist," Ross mocks sardonically turning around as she waved her hands around for dramatic effect. The Basterds burst out laughing and Donny narrowed his eyes at Ross who just rolled her golden eyes before turning back around to figure out the weapon situation. Pissed off Donny stomped off like a child that didn't get his way. Everyone enjoyed Ross turning down Donny because it showed she had some humor to her and they hoped she'd open up more like this.

It was soon time for Wilhelm and Ross to leave, Ross was a little unhappy that she couldn't wear her gun holster but Wilhelm was kind enough to hold the two guns for Ross that would be accessible if anything happened. She put her knife in her inside coat pocket and the pair were off. When they got into town the men out stared at Ross.

Wilhelm felt a little lucky to be the one escorting Ross and saw how envious the other men looked when they saw them arm and arm. The pair acted like a couple, shopping around town and Ross gave a few friendly smiles at some children playing. For good measure Wilhelm and Ross stopped at a park sitting on a bench. What they were really doing was taking in the area to estimate how many Nazis there were. Ross played star-crossed lover and leaned against Wilhelm's chest and placed his arm around her waist. At first Wilhelm was hesitant but Ross looked up at him with her golden eyes and he melted under her gaze. Ross had noticed at the corner of her eye a familiar looking Nazi then looked back Wilhelm with a concerned expression.

"Will, you need to kiss me right now, that Nazi knows my face," Ross says quietly. Wilhelm used his peripheral vision to see the group of Nazis; he knew they would surely die if a fight broke out.

"Okay," he responds finally. He was a little nervous about kissing Ross but he lowered his face to hers with his hand on her cheek their lips brushing against one another's ever so softly. Ross hadn't expected to enjoy the kiss as much as she was and the kiss deepened a bit, her hand resting on Wilhelm's shoulder tugging him a little closer.

Wilhelm was taken back when Ross pulled him closer but didn't complain having to kiss such a beautiful woman. The group of Nazis walked by eying the kissing couple on the bench briefly before going on their way and the pair continued kissing. Ross broke away rather slowly knowing that this was getting probably a little excessive.

"They're gone," Wilhelm says a little out of breath.  
"That's good, I don't want to find myself getting caught by them again," she responds looking off into the distance.  
"Hugo has spoken about how bad it is in those places," he replies.  
"Imagine how bad it is when you're a woman," Ross states with a bitter laugh. Wilhelm didn't want to imagine what awful things had been done to her while they held her captive. It was obvious by the far off livid look in her eyes that they did unspeakable things to Ross. Anger bubbled up inside Wilhelm and his need to kill some Nazis began to rise. The Nazis were ruining everything good in the world including the woman that resided on the bench next to him.


End file.
